


as a chess metaphor

by adiha



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Chess Metaphors, Family Issues, First Kiss, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Not Beta Read, POV James Potter, Runaway Sirius Black, Sirius Black's Prank on Severus Snape, The Whomping Willow Incident, but author sucks at chess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-13 07:13:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28774392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adiha/pseuds/adiha
Summary: In the summer after their fifth year, Sirius runs away from home to Potters. After some thinking, James comes to certain conclusions.
Relationships: Sirius Black/James Potter
Comments: 18
Kudos: 68





	as a chess metaphor

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I know, everyone and their dog wrote about this but I was thinking about the Snape incident and this just happened. And since this world needs more James/Sirius, here we go.

On a lazy late evening of July in the living room of Potter Manor, James and his father were playing wizarding chess. Well, less playing more losing for James. Fleamont Potter was not a man known for his game throwing. He already took a knight, a rook, and three pawns of James, while losing only a bishop and two pawns.

James was tapping his leg nervously. He shifted in his seat thinking about his next move. He could make a move for his dad’s rook but then lose his other knight. A rook for a knight seemed a good deal so he made his move.

His father’s rook got destroyed violently by his bishop on the chessboard. The pieces disappeared afterward.

His dad sent a look over his glasses that said, ‘You are being reckless son’, then took James’s knight while saying:

“You’re being reckless, son.”

James was going to make a gesture to say ‘whatever’, but his hand was frozen in the air when he saw his queen in danger.

“What-!”

He made a pathetic attempt to save his queen but got checkmated in two moves.

“How is it that I never once get to beat you?” He whined to his dad.

“Well son, that’s because you don’t think more than two moves ahead. And you are recklessly attacking, ignoring your defenses.” His father sat back in his armchair and took a sip from his tea.

“The best defense is a good offense,” murmured James, stubbornly, looking away.

“Sometimes, sure. But it cannot be your sole strategy. Let’s take quidditch for example.”

His dad smiled knowingly. He knew he got James’s full attention.

“You are going to be the captain this year.”

It was early for the official announcement, but Professor McGonagall was already treating James as the captain since the previous captain was busy with N.E.W.T.s. James straightened his posture in pride.

“What would you do if your opponent’s beaters keep sending the Bludgers to your seeker. Would you keep your focus on scoring goals, or save your seeker?”

“I’m not going to let them bully my seeker of course, but that’s like saving my king,” James argued.

“What about if they attacked your beater? Would you let them to their fate?”

James opened his mount to say, ‘No one touches Padfoot while I’m there,’ but closed his mount and looked down to his lap. Padfoot was no longer his beater. After the incident with Snape, Dumbledore made him resigned from the team. James didn’t talk to Sirius for three weeks, not on the mirror, not with a letter. His parents didn’t know about it. He was still sending owls to Wormtail and Moony, so they thought Sirius was one of the recipients as always. As much as he likes to be pigheaded about it, he was missing his friend dearly. Maybe he should send an owl tomorrow.

“They can look after themselves, they are supposed to be beaters.”

“Well, in chess, you’ll lose.” His father set his cup on the saucer and stood up. He took a step away from his chair but stopped.

“Dad?” But his father didn’t reply. His eyes were unfocused, and he wasn’t moving.

“Dad!” James repeated anxiously. Since his hospitalization in winter, James was confronted with his parents’ poor health due to their age. Any small sign of illness was causing distress for him this summer.

Fleamont looked at his son.

“Someone entered our outer wards,” he said calmly.

“Were you expecting anyone?” James reclined in his seat, relieved. But his father was looking serious.

“No,” he said while taking out his wand. James stood up as well took his own wand from the coffee table (even though he wasn’t allowed to use it yet).

“You stay here, I will check who it is,” Fleamont ordered and went to the main gate.

His parents weren’t talking about the war in the house but in school, all students were feeling the shadow of it over their heads. The news about attacks on muggles on Daily Prophet, pureblood Slytherins bullying muggle-borns in corridors, half-bloods worrying over their parents… Potters might have been away from the violence with their pureblood status, but the war was a reality, and they were the ‘blood traitors’. So, they took precautions. And an unexpected visitor was a concern.

With his wand in his hand, James followed until the door. Outside was dark with only light was from his dad’s wand that was illuminating their garden and the walkway.

He saw his dad kneel beside a dark mass on the ground and wave his wand around. Fleamont put his wand away and dragged the mass which was a person to their feet and carried them to the door. As they approached the house, James realized who the person was.

“Sirius?! Dad what happened? Is he ok? Is he- is he….” He was panicking.

“He’s responsive. Wake up your mother, James.”

There was blood. Sirius was bleeding. From where he didn’t know. His face was pale, his eyes were closed, and his breathing was labored.

“James! Go get your mother, son.”

James ran to his parents’ bedroom upstairs.

“Mom! Mom!” he yelled before entering. His mother was already awake and getting her robes over her bedgown.

“James, what happened? Is your father-” James didn’t let her finish.

“It’s Sirius!”

“Sirius? He is here?”

“Mom, he is hurt,” a sob broke his voice and made him realized that he was crying. “Please help him.” He begged.

They rushed downstairs to the living room where they found Fleamont waving his wand over a laying Sirius.

“Mia, he is conscious for now, but he lost blood, and the wounds are cursed, I cannot heal them. I’m not sure what kind. Some look like the blood-rotting curse.” His dad reported. Euphemia kneeled by Sirius and checked for his vitals.

“We need to take him to St. Mungo’s,” she told her husband. Then asked Sirius, “Sirius, dear, can you hear me?”

Sirius made a low unintelligible sound. James kneeled his other side and took his hand in his own.

“No,” Sirius tried again. “No.”

Finally, James’s brain started working.

“Mom, you can’t! You can’t go to the hospital. He is still a minor. They would tell his parents. It could get worse.”

Euphemia looked over James’s shoulder to her husband for a second and made her decision.

“Alright. Alright. Monty, dear, please bring me dittany, Chelidonium Miniscula, Adder's Fork, and…”

“The first-aid set?” supplied Fleamont to his wife.

“Yes dear, thanks,” then turned to his son, “Jamie, we need to move him to a room, prepare his room please.”

James didn’t have to ask which room was Sirius’s. The guest room next to James’s was his for years, even though he only used it for Easters, New Year’s, and a few weeks in the summer holidays. No one else was using it, not even Wormtail, or Moony.

James hesitated a second. “He will be fine dear. Prepare the room and I will move him.”

“Yes, mom.” With that, he released his best friend's hand and left him in his mother’s capable hands.

The room was already clean and ready to use even though he wasn’t expecting Sirius to visit this summer. They weren’t even talking. It was his fault that they weren’t talking. Sirius was in pain and he didn’t know. What kind of friend he was?

He turned on the lights, took out the duvet over the bed, removed excess pillows, took some nightgowns out of the wardrobe.

His mother entered the room with Sirius in front of her levitated.

She lowered him slowly on the white linens which turned to red where some of the wounds were still bleeding. His father entered with potions box and prepared them for his wife to use. Euphemia vanished Sirius’s clothes and inspected his wounds.

“You were right dear; I see at least two curses. The ones in his chest are the blood-rotting curse,” she moved Sirius on his side, “on his back the Serpent’s Bite. There are other minor bruises, fractured ribs, blood loss, dehydration.”

Fleamont conjured water for Sirius to drink, and his wife started working on Sirius’s ribs.

James watched uselessly as his parents worked on his friend’s injuries. They gave him the Blood-Replenishing Potion, wrapped the ugly, puss oozing wounds in his back. Prepared cure for more threatening cursed wounds on his chest. Finally, Euphemia took the Dreamless Sleep Potion from her husbands’ box and made Sirius drink. She laid him on his side and tucked him in with blankets.

“That’s all we can do today. Let him rest. Tomorrow I will deal with the wounds from the Serpent’s Bite curse.”

“Why not right now?” James asked.

“The potions we prepared for blood-rotting curse injuries are antagonistic with the treatment for the bite. We can’t treat them at the same time. I put a stasis charm on his back wounds. He needs sleep and rest. Tomorrow morning I’ll check again. Come on James, you should sleep as well,” she held his arm to drag him out of the room. James resisted.

“Can I- can I stay?”

“He really needs to rest, Jamie”

“I know, I won’t disturb him.” James looked at his mother with pleading eyes, that he knew would work 95% of the time. Euphemia considered a second.

“Alright. But don’t wake him,” she emphasized. She transfigured the armchair next to the bed into a twin-sized bed. If James wasn’t concerned about Sirius, he would have appreciated the elegant magic her mother performed. But his eyes were fixed on the pained expression of Sirius.

“There,” she patted the new bed, “You can sleep here. Wake me up if you need anything.” She closed the door and left.

James sat on the small bed and allowed himself to breathe. In just under 2 hours too many things happened for him to process.

Why didn’t Sirius talk to him before all this happened? And what happened? How long was this thing going? Who did this? And how did he get here?

He got up and sat on Sirius’s bed. His hand touched his friend’s hand next to his face. It was cold. So unlike him…

He lay next to Sirius facing him. When he fell asleep, he didn’t let his hand go.

In the morning, James woke up to pained sounds coming from Sirius. He rose on his elbow.

“Padfoot, you awake?”

Sirius made a sound and tried to turn or get up. James held his shoulders trying to not touch the wrapped skin.

“Pads, don’t. You are hurt. Don’t get up.”

“Prongs?”

“Yeah, I’m here. How do you feel?” James moved his hand from Sirius’s shoulder to his bicep, to his hand.

“Like I fought Moony barehanded.” James chuckled.

“You look like that.”

“I couldn’t call you,” Sirius said with a cough. “I couldn’t. I wanted to.”

“It’s alright Pads, you are here, safe.”

“She broke it. So, I couldn’t.” Sirius's eyes were teary. James wiped them away and let his touch lingered on his cheek. So, Walburga found the mirror. That evil witch.

“We can get a new pair, don’t worry.”

Sirius fell asleep again.

James watched his friend’s sleeping figure for a while before getting up.

He went downstairs to the kitchen where he found his mother putting the kettle on the stove.

“’Morning, Mom,” he greeted, walking next to her to get a cup of water. “Where is Dad?”

“Good morning, Jamie. He’s out, will be here by noon.” She hesitated for a moment. “Did Sirius sleep alright?” she asked.

“Hm? He woke up a few times at night. He was awake just now but went to sleep before I left.”

“I need to check his injuries before breakfast. Can you manage only with tea for now?”

“Sure, mom.”

He put himself a cup of tea and followed his mother to the stairs. He noticed Sirius’s stuff in the doorway. His dad must have brought them inside. Just his broomstick and backpack. That was all. And it was fine. They would buy more stuff. As long as Sirius was safe, it was fine.

He moved them into Sirius’s room. His mother was already attending to him. Sirius was in a half-awake state sitting on the bed.

“James, dear, come over here and help me.”

He went to the bed and sit next to Sirius, where he slept that night. He placed himself to Sirius’s back with him in between his legs and hold him steady while his mother applied some mixture over his chest.

“Will it scar?”

“Only faintly even if it does. His front is almost finished. I will start working on his back this evening.” She sent him a look. The same look she did in the kitchen. James felt embarrassed thinking about what he could have done to deserve that look. Fortunately, she didn’t keep him waiting.

“You didn’t use the extra bed.”

James felt hot. It wasn’t like he and Sirius never slept on the same bed. He didn’t know what about the situation was making him embarrassed. Half-naked Sirius in his arms was not doing any good, though.

“I slept here.” He confessed unnecessarily. “He was delirious in his sleep. I wanted to help.” Which was not a complete lie but wasn’t the truth either.

She smiled warmly. “As long as you don’t kick each other while asleep, I’m fine.”

He smirked then. “If he wasn’t in this shape, I would kick his ass-” “ _James!_ ” “-to next week. He’s lucky.”

“Not so sure about that, dear,” she said softly.

They laid Sirius on his side again when she was done.

“Does he need to eat?”

“I already gave him some nutrient boost tonic. He should be fine till dinner. For now, let him sleep.”

James didn’t get up until after she exited the door. He pushed a lock of hair out of Sirius’s face. _Lucky_ … As he got up, he was hating himself a little.

After breakfast, James stayed in Sirius’s room, trying, and failing to do some summer homework.

By lunchtime, his father was back.

“I talked to Ignatius Prevett in the Department of Magical Transportation today. Tried to get learn what he knows about last night,” he said when they started eating.

“Dad! You can’t tell them that he is here!”

“I didn’t, son, don’t worry. Just to see if the Blacks were actively looking for the heir apparent. He didn’t say anything unusual. But Orion Black was in the Ministry as well. And he was sending murderous looks over to me, so I don’t think they don’t know where he is.”

“What’s going to happen?” asked Euphemia.

“Sirius’s birthday was in November, right James?”

“November 3rd,” he replied very fast.

“There is about a month until school starts. He was already spending half of the holidays with us. Let’s just hope that Blacks don’t come knocking on our door until September. And he will be of age by next holiday, and free to do what he wants.”

“Then what?” James pushed.

“Then,” his parents shared a look “he has his own room here, doesn’t he?”

James jumped from his seat and hug first his father and his mother, thanking them. He was already planning a shopping trip to get some clothes (they need to visit both wizarding and muggle shops, Sirius loves muggle clothes), school things (he needs a trunk, cauldron, books! They need to go to Diagon Alley. -“James we always go there every year”-“Yea, but this time is different”), they need to furnish his room (“How about some posters?” “What’re those?”), also, they need to visit the joke shop of course (“Of course, son we will”).

That day, he didn’t go outside to fly. Instead, he stayed in Sirius’s room and wrote down a shopping list and plans for Sirius. He had already forgotten about the incident with Snape.

After dinner, his mother attended to Sirius as planned. And of course, James helped her.

This time Sirius was awake.

“How do you feel Sirius?”

“I’m alright. Thank you, Mrs. Potter.”

“I’m done with your injuries on your chest. Let’s get you on your belly, and deal with the rest, shall we?”

Sirius mumbled another “thank you” and lay down. After Euphemia was done with Sirius’s back, he was looking much better.

When they were alone, James couldn’t wait anymore.

“Padfoot, are you going to tell me what happened?”

Sirius hummed in a defeated way. He nodded once, making his cheek puff on the pillow. It looked cute.

Then he turned to lay on his side facing James but not really looking at him.

“My family supports you-know-who,” he started. ”Dark wizards, lot of them. Of course, they do. I learned that my cousin Bellatrix is one of _them_. One of his supporters. She was visiting. She and her husband. Lestrange. Mother made me attend the dinner. And.. they started to talk about- about- you know- how muggles were inferior and how the wizarding world should rule them over. The regular stuff. And Reg was agreeing with them. Nodding his head like an idiot. My brother is a piece of shit, James. I- I couldn’t take it anymore. I mean, I already knew it but…”

James couldn’t say anything but held Sirius’s hand for support, to get him to continue.

“You know, I don’t usually keep my opinions to myself. I started arguing back. And they started to insult me, you, Remus, all our friends, and their families. Vile insults, James. They were disgusting. And I couldn’t find words to argue back, which almost never happens. But which ridiculous argument I was going to counter? That I’m brainwashed by- by blood traitors, that I should make half-bloods know their places, that mud- that muggle-borns needed to be sterilized, and muggles needed to be crushed…

“James, each word coming out of their mouths was a disgusting lie. So, I took my wand out and jinx her. She didn’t expect it, so didn’t have time to counter. And she was puking slimy slugs and giant zits appearing and popping on her face. They fixed her pretty quickly but not before she cursed me back. The wounds on my chest. It was her. I was bleeding and neither my parents nor Regulus was helping me. I stopped the bleeding temporarily, but I didn’t know how to counter the curse. And we shouted back and forth.

“Then Bella said- she said that she would forgive me if I became one of them. If I took his mark. It shouldn’t have shocked me so much because they’ve already told me this back in June-”

“-Wait they told you?” James couldn’t stop himself from interrupting. He didn’t know anything about this. When did they tell exactly?

Sirius looked like he didn’t mean to say that. Now it was out, he explained unwillingly.

“I got an owl from Mother. Not a howler. Which was rare. She kind of threatened me if I didn’t become more loyal to the family, they would make my life miserable. And to show my worth I was expected to meet _him_ and be one of _them_.”

“And you got this in June?”

Sirius bit his lip. “Yes.”

“And you didn’t tell me? Wait- Wait Pads. What happened with Snape… Was that…?”

Sirius didn’t reply but his silence was answer enough.

“That was the reason, right? You were lashing out.” Everything was making sense now. Sirius took a deep breath before speaking.

“I read the letter, and just after that Snape found me. He started to ask questions about Remus. About us. He knew. He figured it all out. Not us being Animagi. But about Moony. He disarmed me so I couldn’t escape. He wanted proof. So, I gave him. I told him if he wanted to see what we do, all he has to do was touch the knob under the willow and follow the tunnel.”

“He went there knowing there was a werewolf at the end?”

“I think he might have thought that Moony was restrained somehow. I didn’t correct him.”

“Why didn’t you tell us this?”

“I did.”

“NO! You told me that you told Snape how to get into the tunnel and he went there. Nothing else!”

“Why would it matter? It won’t excuse what I did. You could have died. Remus could have got hurt.”

It didn’t escape James that Sirius excluded getting Snape killed from his list of consequences.

“So, then what? You went back to your family while your friends didn’t talk to you? With zero support system! Do you want to be some kind of martyr?” James lashed out. He didn’t know who he was angry with the most. To Sirius’s family, Snape, Sirius, or himself?

When he saw the tears in Sirius’s eyes, he realized how scary it was for his friend. He reached out and held Sirius in his arms.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” he said into Sirius’s shoulder. “I’m sorry Padfoot. I’m not angry with you. I’m angry because I didn’t try to understand. I left you alone in that house. I’m sorry please forgive me.”

With that Sirius brought his arms around James and hugged back.

“I love you, mate. I won’t let them hurt you again.” James placed a kiss on Sirius’s head.

The next morning, James woke up with Sirius still in his arms. He looked at Sirius’s peaceful face contrasting the redness on his eyes. James let his hand through Sirius’s soft hair. He wondered how anyone would want to hurt him.

After Sirius calmed down last night, he told the rest of the story to James. He went to his room to get his things ready to come to Potter’s. When he was going to contact James using the mirror, Walburga rushed in and broke it. They screamed to each other and Sirius took out his broom and tried walked to the entrance. He was on air when the second curse hit him. Sirius didn’t know who it was, but he was suspecting Rodolphus Lestrange because the curse of Serpent’s Bite was his favorite. He flew all the way from London to Bristol in pain.

He crash-landed in James’s garden while James was still angry with him in his comfortable house with his loving family. He was playing a bloody chess game and Sirius needed him!

‘What about if they attacked your beater?’ his father had asked. James didn’t care about chess strategies and whatnot. He knew what he will do now. The Death Eaters hurt Sirius, and James will hurt them all.

“My black knight,” he whispered into Sirius’s hair before getting up.

Sirius joined them for lunch since he slept through the morning.

His parents explained the current situation with Blacks to Sirius.

“I think Orion wants you back,” Fleamont said. “He usually is not around the ministry much. I rarely see him when I go there. But for two days, he is around and doesn’t seem to have any business in there either. He isn’t looking for you openly, but I think he is fishing around for news from you.”

“Of course,” Sirius was looking down at his soup and swirling the spoon as if it was a potion and needed all his attention for brewing into perfection. “I’m the disgrace of the royalty, after all. It would be beneath him to ask for his son. Not that I want him to.”

“So, you don’t want to go?” Euphemia asked cautiously.

Sirius stopped swirling and bit his lip but didn’t lift his head. James put his hand on the small of his back which made Sirius stopped biting his lip. “I don’t want to go back. But I don’t have anywhere else to go. And I don’t have any money either.”

“You have us, lad,” James’s father said with a reassuring smile on his face.

Sirius finally lifted his head.

“And you will always have us,” Euphemia continued.

“You already have your room. We need to go shopping for the rest. I planed everything. As soon as you are ready to go outside, we’ll go.” James brought his chair closer as he talked and put his arm around Sirius’s neck.

Sirius looked stunned and was unable to talk for a few moments. Then with a pretty blush on his face, he said, “Thank you”.

They stayed in Sirius’s room the rest of the day. Played exploding snap, talked about pranking strategies, gossiped about the teachers. James didn’t realize that he hadn’t written about Sirius to the rest of the Marauders until he received an owl from Peter. In his reply, he couldn’t bring himself to mention Sirius. It wasn’t that he was embarrassed that he was talking with Sirius again. He just wanted to keep Sirius to himself for a few days. Looking at the face Sirius was making while he was writing, he gathered that Sirius misunderstood. James didn’t know how to explain, so he didn’t.

They slept on Sirius’s bed again. Euphemia insisted Sirius drink the Dreamless Sleep potion, so he was already out while James lay awake.

His fingers went up to Sirius’s hair. He was doing this a lot lately. It was so nice to touch. Sirius had the prettiest hair in the whole school. Maybe tied with Lily.

James blinked and stopped his hand at the thought. He didn’t think about Lily since Sirius arrived. The realization made him feel like he was cheating on her. Which was absurd. Because, one, Sirius was his best friend, and two, he and Lily were not dating yet. Their roles in James’s life were different. If he continued with the chess allegory: Sirius was his knight, and Lily was his queen-

That didn’t sound right. Sirius wouldn’t be less important to him than Lily. Actually, if he was honest about it, Sirius was more important than Lily. So, he is the queen? James gave up thinking about chess, snuggled closer to Sirius, and fell asleep.

Two days later, Sirius was feeling good enough to go outside. Because Sirius didn’t want to show his face in the wizarding world yet, they went to the shops in the muggle neighborhood. James was picking out trousers, shirts, jackets, and shoes, for Sirius to try; Sirius was vetoing some, trying on others; and Euphemia was voicing her own opinion if they took too long arguing. After shopping, they went to a muggle movie theater and watched a scary movie about a kid and _muggle religion?_ James didn’t get the plot. But he grabbed Sirius’s arm whenever something scary happened. After the movie, he acted like it wasn’t scary at all to his mother, and Sirius just smiled and didn’t contradict James. He felt something funny in his stomach for the rest of the day.

Because Sirius was mostly healed, there wasn’t any reason to sleep in the same bed (and his mother had already transfigured the second bed back to armchair since he never used it) but James still crawled under the blankets with Sirius when the night came. Without saying a word, Sirius reached him for a cuddle. James felt the funny feeling in his stomach again.

He placed a kiss on the crown of Sirius’s head. Sirius hummed in return and snuggled closer as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

The next evening James got an owl from Remus. He still didn’t write about Sirius in his reply.

That night, in bed, Sirius didn’t move closer. In fact, he stayed on the other side of the bed. James moved instead and put his arm on Sirius’s waist.

“What’s wrong, Padfoot?”

He was worried about not getting a reply, but Sirius met his eyes.

“You didn’t tell Peter and Remus about me yet.”

It wasn’t a question, but James confirmed, nonetheless. “Yes.”

“Are you ashamed of me?”

“What? No!” How can he ashamed of Sirius? He was brilliant. If anything, he would want to show Sirius off to everyone.

“Is Remus too angry to forgive me?” He looked devastated by the possibility of Moony’s rejection.

“No, Sirius. If anything, as soon as he hears about it, he would be too apologetic to function. Don’t you know Moony?”

“Then why didn’t you write to them about me?”

Why, indeed? James didn’t know. He was still trying to understand his feelings.

“I didn’t want to share you yet,” he was surprised by his own confession.

“What do you mean?”

“I- I wanted to keep you myself, I think. Just for a while. Before going back to being Marauders again.”

It looked like Sirius was also surprised. His eyes were wide, and his face was blushed. He opened his mouth to let an “Oh”.

He gazed his eyes on Sirius. Grey eyes were clear. He could see his pores on his clean skin, a small mole under his left eye. Sirius looked stunning. Magic must have balanced all the family unluckiness with a lottery win at genetics.

James’s heart was beating so fast. He wasn’t sure if he was allowed to do what he wanted. But he is nothing if not bold.

“Padfoot,” he whispered before tracing the length of Sirius’s straight nose with the tip of his own and placing a soft kiss on Sirius’s forehead. “Pads,” a kiss to his cheekbone, “Sirius,” a kiss to the corner of his mouth.

Sirius closed his eyes and tilted his face closer. It all made sense in a way. ‘ _He is my_ …’ turned to ‘ _he is mine’_. It seemed like the next logical step. So, he did it.

He moved half an inch closer and brushed their lips together. Sirius, eyes still closed, took a small breath, and opened his mouth just a little.

James brought his hand from Sirius’s waist to his jaw and kissed him again. And again. And again. Sirius moved his body closer. And whispered James’s name between each kiss.

He ignored his fast-beating heart, the funny feeling in his stomach, and only focused on the lips on his lips. Soft kisses turned to open-mouthed, brushes to suckings, and hands brought them closer. When they were both breathing heavily, they stopped.

“You should sleep. Mom says you still need rest.” James said without getting away from Sirius’s lips.

Sirius slowly pressed a kiss one last time. “Alright,” he said as he lowered his head and nestled under James’s chin. James wrapped his arms around Sirius.

“Good night Padfoot.”

“’Night, Prongs.”

The next morning, James wrote to both Peter and Remus. He wrote that Sirius escaped home and was going to live with him permanently. Respecting Sirius’s wishes, he didn’t get into details about the circumstances surrounding Sirius’s escape. He told them Sirius was very sorry about what happened with Snape and they were alright now. He said that they were welcome to visit Potter Manor and asked to meet on Diagon Alley for school shopping.

There weren’t any visits from Remus or Peter, but they met with Peter in Diagon Alley, a week before school started. Although Remus didn’t join them and gave a vague excuse for it, Peter was very relieved that they were back being friends again.

They saw Lily with her friends outside of Flourish and Blotts. She was looking as beautiful as always. Lily didn’t look angry with him. In fact, she was very kind and chatting pleasantly with James. It felt good when she smiled genuinely at him. But it was nothing compared to what he felt when Sirius smiled at him.

Sirius was observing their interaction where he stood six feet away and he was staying suspiciously quiet. To comfort him, James slipped his fingers around Sirius’s wrist while sending him a soft smile, after he said his farewells to Lily. Peter looked confused at their interaction, but they didn’t explain.

Back at home, as soon as they reached James’s room Sirius closed the door, pushed James against it, and kissed him. Kissed his lips, his jaw, his neck, and his lips again. Everything felt too much. If emotions could kill, James would be dead right there. He flipped their position and looked at his friend.

Sirius was so beautiful with that happy smile on his face.

“I got it!” James exclaimed.

“What?” Sirius tilted his head to the right, but he was still smiling.

“I was playing chess with my dad the other day. And we were talking about strategies and all. And he asked me something, like a metaphor. Not really important what it was. But it made me think. If the chessboard is my life and I’m the king who is my queen right? So automatically I thought of Lily because I liked her, and she has that queen aura in her. What about Marauders? Remus could be the rook very effective in attack, very strong. Wormy could be the bishop, useful and tricky. You, I thought you would be my knight. Black knight makes sense, right? But it didn’t. Because it’s not the most important piece. It’s not even strong. And when it comes to that there is no way I would sacrifice you. Sure, I wouldn’t sacrifice the others either, but especially you. You are my best friend. You are mine, yeah? So, I thought maybe Pads is my queen but even that didn’t make sense. Because if lost you I don’t think I would win anything. Now I got it!

“If my life is the chessboard, and if you are the most important thing in my life then, you are not just any piece on the board. You are the king, my king. Losing you is losing the game. And it’s not even that you are mine, it’s that I’m yours. Sirius, I love you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are appreciated but please be kind <3.


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